‘Invisible wounds’ hamper vets’ job prospects

SAN ANTONIO — Bellingham resident Kyle Salisbury, 21, went to work shortly after he retired from the Army last year with a brain injury caused by two large blasts in as many days.

His employer was excited about hiring a wounded Iraq veteran, but Salisbury often could not work because of severe headaches. A second job driving a truck did not work out either because of his occasional nausea and blurred vision. He quit both jobs.

“Right now my job prospects are zero,” said Salisbury, who lives with his wife and 3-year-old nephew. He is attending community college while he decides what to do next.

With less than $3,000 a month in disability payments, “the bills take up all the money,” he said. “I definitely don’t live a worry-free life.”

Army officials say many new veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and brain injuries struggle to find and keep a civilian job. Advocates say many employers don’t know how to accommodate veterans with these “invisible wounds” and worry that they cannot do the job and might even “go postal” someday.

“There is a stigma attached to the invisible wounds, and it’s largely borne out of ignorance,” said David Autry, a spokesman for Disabled American Veterans. “There’s a fear that somebody will go off the deep end.”

The Army’s Wounded Warrior Program, which helps veterans adjust to civilian life, has been reaching out to employers to educate them and encourage them to hire former soldiers with invisible wounds.

It conducts briefings to brace potential employers for soldiers who might not be able to work regular hours or might startle too easily, suffer outbursts or require time off for counseling.

About 90 severely wounded veterans have found work with the help of the Wounded Warrior Program since it began offering job assistance last year, though the Army does not break that down by injury type.

The severely wounded soldiers now returning from the wars suffer primarily from PTSD and severe brain injuries rather than lost limbs. About a third, or 1,950, of the 5,400 soldiers and veterans in the Wounded Warrior Program have PTSD as their primary injury, while about 970 are in the program because of brain injuries. About 770 are amputees.

“Employers find it easier to accommodate ... physical disabilities. They can get special equipment,” said Sue Maloney, who works with veterans in the Wounded Warrior Program in the Seattle area. But “you can’t always see the wounds or the injuries.”

For the invisibly wounded, the losses can be as minor as slight memory lapses and as severe as debilitating flashbacks and a hair-trigger temper. Some have blurred vision and difficulty concentrating.

Richard Martin keeps a rearview mirror on his desk to prevent co-workers from startling him in his cubicle. The walls are papered with sticky notes to help him remember things, and he wears noise-canceling headphones to keep his easily distracted mind focused.

Martin, an Army veteran who was nearly blown up on three occasions in Iraq, once feared that post-traumatic stress disorder and a brain injury would keep him from holding down a civilian job, despite years of corporate experience and an MBA.

“Here I am with this background and I’m having problems with my memory,” said Martin, a 48-year-old engineer and former National Guard major who now works for Northrop Grumman in Clearfield, Utah, helping to devise ways to thwart remote-detonated bombs.

“Give them a chance,” Karen Stang, manager of Northrop Grumman’s hiring program, said she tells other employers. “Really, look at what they bring as far as skills and help them manage their disability so they can succeed in their job.”